January 23, 2023 • 54 mins
Melissa Price, Deputy Director of the Erie Metroparks System in Ohio joins the Work Week Walk to talk about ministry in the Parks System. What are the challenges of living out your faith in a government agency? What are the joys and opportunities to minister in the parks? Join us as we continue to learn and grow as ministers in the workplace!
Podcast Production Gear used on The Work Week Walk:
- Canon R5 - https://amzn.to/3ZbB23s
- Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens - https://amzn.to/3QpAO4E - https://amzn.to/3QpAO4E
- Govee Floor Lamps: https://amzn.to/3vLleqJ
- GVM 2 Pack LED Video Lighting Kit: https://amzn.to/3WTbKWt
- UGreen 6.35mm ¼ Male to 3.5mm 1/8 Male TRS Stereo Audio Cable - https://amzn.to/3GNOWld
- Heil Sound Windscreen for PR30 & PR40 Microphones: https://amzn.to/3IwNqoH
- Heil PR40 Dynamic Cardiod Studio Mic with Heil Sound PRSMB Shockmount, Two Section Broadcast Arm - https://amzn.to/3IxCWWj
- Focusrite SCARLETT 212 3rd Gen USB Audio Interface - https://amzn.to/3ipt7z5
- Mackie 802VLZ4 Ultra Compact Mixer - https://amzn.to/3GLaDCw
- Books about Workplace Ministry I recommend:
- “The Word Before Work” – Jordan Raynor - https://amzn.to/3ipthGM
- “Called to Create” - https://amzn.to/3VXJkJo
- “The 9 to 5 Window: How Faith Can Transform the Workplace” – Os Hillman (Audiobook) - https://amzn.to/3QoX6DR
- “Every Good Endeavor” – Timothy Keller - https://amzn.to/3GKvEgD
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
For the first time in the last year,I had an H.R.
training
for managers that said if two people
are talking about their faith,are you ready for this?
You and I are talking about our faithin the workplace.
And Susie Q John Doe
over here don't like it.
(00:21):
And they tell us to stop,but we still want to talk.
That can be considereda hostile environment.
Welcome to the Work Week Walk podcast.
Living out your faithauthentically in the everyday workplace
with your host, Craig Magrum.
(00:45):
Welcome to the Work Week Walk podcast.
This podcast is all about living our faithin Jesus,
out in the everyday work worldthat that we're involved in.
Our jobs, our careers,and we're really going to be tackling:
how do wehow do we live as followers and disciples
of Jesus in the workplaceduring our work week?
My name is Craig Magrum.
(01:05):
I work in sales businessdevelopment client care, and
my goal in this
podcast is really to grow with you
in living my faith out in my job.
And we're going to encourage each otherthe guests that we have on.
We're going to have guests on this podcastevery week sharing their experiences of
following Jesus and ministering to othersand carrying that message of the Gospel
(01:29):
to their colleagues, to their customers,
their clients, and learn from each other.
Really, this this platform is about
equipping you,enabling you to do the work of ministry
and giving others the opportunity to equipand to invest in others.
It's a community
where we're really seeking Jesus togetherin the everyday workplace.
(01:52):
And that voice you just heard is our guestthis week.
I'm going to introduce herin just a minute.
But before we get to that, oh, Melissa,
this is going to be a lot of fun.
Before we get to that, though,
I do want to invite you to subscribeto the Work Week Walk podcast,
whether it's the audio podcastor here on YouTube, hit subscribe.
(02:13):
What that does is when a new episodecomes out, you'll get a notification
that a new a new episode has dropped.
And I would invite you to,if you find some value in this, like,
you know, like it.
Share it with others.
If you know of other believersthat you work with or just other believers
in general that you're working outin the everyday marketplace
and you think this could benefit them.
(02:35):
I just encourage you share it,
not not for the sake of the popularityof the podcast, but just
it's some proverbs it says
is iron sharpensiron when one person sharpens another.
And that's the whole goal of thisis to sharpen each other.
So subscribe, like share, you know,
all that YouTube stuffthat people do in social media.
But ultimately, if it if it equipsone person, great, that's awesome.
(02:58):
So today we are exploring living our faith
out in the beautiful, wondrousoutdoors, the creation of God,
more specifically, the park systems.
So faith in the park system.
And you might think, okay, that's athat's a career field.
I wouldn't be at the top of my mind.
(03:18):
But think of
do this, think of all what is neededto run and maintain our parks.
You know, from the very top,the executive director
to to the groundskeepers, to the Rangers.
There's just a lot of workthat has to be done to maintain
these outdoor spaces that Godhas so awesomely created for us to enjoy.
(03:41):
And there are people
working in those park systemsthat are followers of Jesus and know that
he's the author of that creationand the greatest artist of of all time.
So today we are exploringliving our faith out in the park system.
And my guest is Melissa Price.
She is the Deputy Director of the ErieMetroparks System here in Ohio.
(04:01):
Did I get that right, Melissa?
Yes, we're based in here in Ohio.
We are jurisdiction is all of Erie County.
So we have like over 3000 acreswe preserve. Wow.
That's a lot of land.
So even more important to methan her being the deputy director
of the Erie Metroparks: is it metroparks or just park system? (04:19):
undefined
It is the metroparks.
Yes, it's plural. Okay. All right.
All right.
So more importantly to me,
long time friend and a sister in Christand a passionate lover of Jesus
that is not afraid to speak the truthof the gospel
and encourage others.
(04:40):
Melissa, thank you for joiningjoining me on the Work Week Walk.
I'm so honored. I'm so honored to be here.
There's very few things I get fired up
about more than the Lord.
My hour, his word,
family.
And then definitely I'm very passionateabout what I do.
I feel very honored to work in a place
(05:05):
that works and serves the community.
And Craig, what's interesting is
I do feel thatParks was kind of like a hidden thing.
Like,you know, it's something you might pick.
You take your family tofor a picnic or whatever.
And then COVID hits a global pandemic.
And we had a people, you know, literallythat were all of a sudden
(05:28):
it seemed like parks were in the spotlightfor the first time.
And, you know, we had reportsthat showed that our foot traffic tripled
and there were people that maybewere in apartments that couldn't get out
and a green spacesand come on out to our trails
and breathe the clean airand socially distance.
So it was so interestingbecause I've been in parks for 28 years
(05:51):
and something about the global pandemickind of uniquely shifted
a spotlight on us,where I feel like we've been kind
of the quiet, hidden, essential,if you if you know what I mean.
Sure.
So, yeah, I feel very honored to workthere.
That's awesome.
So do you mind just introducing yourself,
you know, both personallyand then professionally?
(06:12):
What you do is as a deputy directorof of a metroparks system
and just, you know,
talk about your, your responsibilities,but a little bit about yourself as well.
Yes. So I,
I actually grew up in southern Ohio,and I joke I'm a bit of a hillbilly
because I was born in Wheeling,West Virginia, and in southern Ohio.
(06:34):
I just remember as a young girl,everybody kind of stuck around the area.
And there was something inside of me
that really, really wanted to go awayand get an education.
So I ended up gettingmy undergraduate degree
at Bowling Green StateUniversity in Bowling Green, Ohio.
And it was there that I first came to knowthe Lord.
It was actually my freshman year, and I,
(06:58):
I think I would sayI had one of those radical conversions.
I mean, I know peoplethere are people that like don't always
maybe know the date.
I'm like November 4th, 1991.
I was wearing a gray blazer and a pinktank top.
And, you know,I just remember the feeling that day
and for whateverreason, by the grace of God,
I was plugged in and growing immediately,like I digested
(07:22):
the entire Bible, probably inlike a couple months, like, and,
and, and so that's been 30 years.
I'm going on let's see,I'm going to be 50.
I accepted Christ at 19and I can't really say
there's been a time that I've
I mean, you know,
everybody's journeys a little differentand you know, you might see people
(07:44):
maybe get like kind of
maybe not go to church for a whileor maybe
maybe they're I've never been that person.
And again, I,
I don't know why I can tell youhow to pray and mom and a praying grandma.
So it's all their fault, right?
But yeah, I've been pretty much walkingwith the Lord all of that time.
So I landed in parks in 2002
(08:08):
as a part time person.
It was ready for this.
It was a part time accounting clerkposition until I found my real career.
Okay.
That's as life goes.
We just don'tever always know what God has planned.
And so I just worked my to my bestin this part time job.
(08:31):
And what I told my children isI just continued to take
every opportunity given mewhether that was in training
or whetherthat was in different positions.
I was open to whatever I could doand become there.
And I had no idea what park systems do.
(08:54):
And like you mentioned, Craig,the specific Metro Park system I work for,
we're charged by the state of Ohiolike we're formed under a statute
in the state of Ohio.
And our specific mission with our parkis that we preserve the natural resources
in Erie County and our missionthen is not only to preserve,
but to connect peoplelike you and everybody
(09:16):
to those natural resourcesthrough education and exploration.
So that's our mission. And boy,that's a mission.
As a believer, I can get behind. Oh, sure.
You know, and, and,
and so
I've just continued to,you know, get promoted.
I continue to get training.
And here I am by
(09:38):
the grace of God,I will be the executive director
when my director retires this yearat the end of this year.
Congratulations. Yeah, that's exciting.
Wow. I have so excited for you.
That's awesome.
Did you just as an aside,I don't think I've ever told you this,
but I just came back to my memorythis morning
(09:59):
as I was thinking about recording thiswhen I was a kid.
I actually one of the things I wantedto be when I grew up was a park ranger.
Oh, my gosh. Yeah, yeah.
Now that I understand.
Okay, What
what a park ranger is, I'm thinking wordthat I should have been thinking.
I want to be a park.
Grounds person is working with the nature,not law enforcement,
(10:19):
because that's just.
I hate confrontation. Oh.
So I have so many funny stories aboutmy ignorance with parks, so I didn't know.
Like you said,I did not know all that parks do.
So to run a park, you definitely needpeople to take care of the grounds.
So you have an operations staff
that are cleaning those sheltersand they're cleaning the bathrooms
(10:43):
and they're mowing andand they're taking the trees off
that fell down on the natural trailthat you're hiking on.
We have a natural resource teamthat fights invasive species.
Now, as. A.
Ten year old, I went invasive species.
You mean like aliens coming from Mars?I do not.
I feel like I was so ignorantto what that even was.
(11:05):
And understanding that we,you know, we want
our areas are natural areas, too.
We want our native planning to thrive.
And so invasivescome in, especially up on Lake Erie.
I'm by I'm on Lake Erie a lot of our landis against against the lake.
And as you can imagine, viawonderful measures by boats
(11:27):
or people that you know by plantingsthat are not native to Ohio, they
then they start to seed and they take overbecause we don't have a way to combat
those in our natural areas sothey can take over the native plantings.
So we have a natural resource department,we have a programing staff,
they teach people how to canoe and kayakand stand up paddleboards
(11:50):
they do crafts, they do this goal.
There's so many thingsthat our programs staff does.
We have marketing.
Marketing and we have a 19 guy,we have a county,
and we have to pay people,we have to pay our vendors.
So it'sjust and then I just really oversee
all of that and then I can represent usin outside meetings.
(12:12):
I get to advocate for us, like here. And,
and once I was promoted to deputy,I basically
I basically had the full authority,like in the absence
of the executive director,I'm running all of these,
all of these thingsand just have oversight.
Kind of like, sure feel like I'mmaking fun a little bit of my age
(12:36):
and the time in the ten tenureI had there.
But I feel like I'm the like wise old owl,
like with the glasses on the on the nose.
And I, you know, it's
just sometimes it's just it's honestlyjust more, you know, the experience
and the breadth of experience that I havethat just helps me in the position.
So I have a great staffwho love the people I work with.
I love them.
(12:58):
That's that's awesome.
Sounds like it's a good,
good, healthy culture that you're helpingset in in your leadership role.
So that actually kind of leads beautifullyinto really my first my first question,
let's just dive into this great,
great background on what you doand what the park system does.
So thank you for sharing that
because that that describesyour career, that describes
(13:19):
the workplace that you're working in.
We all have different workplaces,but as a as a follower of Jesus
now in the role that you're in,what does ministry look like?
Let's just dive right into it.
What does ministry look like in the role
of a deputy director in in a park systemor just working
in parks in general,because you have worked in different.
(13:41):
Roles. Within the parks?
Yes. So it's been an interesting ride
because I as you know,I am not I'm a not a quiet Christian.
I mean, I'm not out there preaching,
but I unabashedly talk about the Lordbecause he's
it would be to not talk about Jesus for me
is like to not talk about my husbandor not talk about my children.
(14:04):
It's so intertwined.
He's such a part of everything I do thatI almost can't not bring him up.
I can tell you now that I'm in management,
what I am more sensitive to is that
and from some additional trainingI've had,
I want to make sure, like,let me back up a little, Craig.
(14:29):
For the first timein the last year, I had an H.R.
training
for managers that said if
two people are talking about their faith,are you ready for this?
You and I are talkingabout our faith in the workplace
and Susie Q John Doe over here
don't like it,
(14:50):
and they tell us to stop,but we still want to talk.
That can be considereda hostile environment,
a hostile work environment.
And for the first timemy spidey senses proven to do,
and they knewwe were in a very secular marketplace.
We are creating people that are followingChrist, are in the minority.
(15:13):
And I went, okay,
so instead of getting all defensive
about that and being like,Oh my gosh, I can't.
I'm still who I am.
But I might say things like Iand I can tell you I do this.
You can ask my staff,
Hey, I'm going to share somethingbut is going to evolve my faith.
(15:35):
I am going to share somethingthat happened at my church or something
that's happened in my life
and I
and not maybe every culture is like this.
Like you said, I'm
in a I'm in a service based culture,which is very, very godly thing.
It's a very righteous thing.
And we are there to serve our community
and we hire by a value system.
(15:58):
So the people I work withare already freaking amazing.
And so I'm very free, but I'm very for
I allow people to say whatever.
Craig People can tell me anything
they can say everything about.
I've even been made fun of by somebody.
(16:19):
I won't say specifically who it is,but it's.
Probably good.
That person is still,and like in my life and employed there.
But I doI do remember when they specifically
challenged my faith downto like the publications
of the written scriptsand kind of was like
(16:42):
making fun of like the word of God
and, and I was in a meeting with managersand I could,
you could hear a pin drop and everybody'swaiting to see what I'm going to say.
And I just said, Wow,I think that lends more to the credibility
of the scriptures that they were foundjust a couple hundred years apart.
(17:02):
It just didn't.
Yeah, I don't feelI don't know how to say it.
Craig, but I'm not offended.
I'm not easily offended anyway.
But I you can say anything to me.
You can tell meyou think I'm stupid to believe in Jesus.
You can tell me
and I'll listen to you.
I'm going to listen to you.
I don't have to defend God.
(17:23):
God's the will were the Holy Spirit.
So we're. We're right.
I just have to be real.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
And the pointabout not being offended easily,
I mean, as believers,we shouldn't be anyway.
Jesus told us if the world hates you,just remember it hated me first.
(17:44):
And yet he lays his life down for usbefore we even come to him.
So, yeah, offense is not a character traitthat we as believers
should be carrying so easily,and it seems like we can be
so easily offended, especially here in thein the States, in the Western church.
I mean, you think about the factI'm I'm going to preach now.
(18:05):
You think about the fact of that
that for most of its history,the church in various
cultures and places in the worldand throughout time
since the church was established,it's been a persecuted church.
It's we've we as is believers,have largely had the freedom
of practicing our faith freelyand without fear of reprisal.
(18:29):
Really, the American church,the Western church, is really an enigma
and an anomaly in the timeline of.
The Church. Of Jesus. Yes.
And and so any time,any time we have the slightest little,
you know, bit of somebody making fun of usor following Jesus, we do get offended.
And hey, I have the right,you know, the right to practice my faith.
(18:49):
And we we act in waysthat just traditionally that
that's not how we're that that's nothow Jesus has called us to live.
So you preach more.
So I've noticedI think one thing that concern I,
I don't know ifI want to say it's a trend or
but something
that I that's that bothers meor that I wrestle with a little bit
(19:12):
is I,
I don't want to become so focused on
what's happening in our culturewith issues in politics.
As much as I want to look at the kingdom,
I feel like I want to make sure
(19:33):
I'm looking more globally.
It's very easy for usin America to feel like.
I mean, we're almost looking at the tree,so this tree is really bothering me.
I don't like that this tree is there,and I just want to make sure,
like I'm keeping my focus eternal
(19:53):
and it's not that these other thingsgoing on
in our modern culture aren't important,
but I can tell you that
the news, whether it bethe news or social media, has stolen,
I feel our God's voiceor our voice in this sense that
(20:16):
it's a weapon like Scripture
and God is almost weaponizedand it's been used in
not not the way that I see Jesus
live his daily life.
So then I have to I have to go, okay,
How what, what,how do I how do I want to live and how so?
(20:39):
You know, I'm I'm praying in the mornings.
I want the Holy Spirit to fill me up.
Lord, keep me focused,keep me focused on you
and above what's happening in our culture,because the church is global, Lord,
the church is global.
Brothers and sisters in Christin the Ukraine that are in war. And,
you know, the things that are going on
(20:59):
in our nation are important,
and I will pray for our nation.
But I can tell you justI don't work with very many Christians,
and I can tell you largely
that the perception of the church, again,whoever we want to blame
and for whateverreason, is not looked at fondly.
(21:21):
Okay.
And if we were living, I'm going to justpull out of Mother Teresa card.
Let's just say we're all livinglike Mother Teresa.
Ain't nobody gonna have a bad wordto say about Mother Teresa, right?
She lived out her calling.
So if I live on my calling,whatever, you know, I mean,
I guess what I'm saying isI don't want to pick up a banner
(21:41):
or a couple banners or issuesso much as I just want to make sure
I'm leading with God's love.
I mean, I'm super theological.
Kraig People,if people that are listening to us
don't know I'm a book nerdand that might surprise people.
And I read constantlyand I study constantly.
And what I love that Jesus didfor us in practical ality in ministry is
(22:06):
love for me and love others.
And to love others.
Part is so beautiful because
it's amplified. Actually.
Can I let me fine.
I want to get the amplified version upbecause I just brought this up
to look at it againactually in preparation for the podcast.
But where is the Bible app?
(22:28):
There it is.
Yeah.
It says You shall love your neighboras yourself.
That is because, you know,Amplify is going to expound it for you
unselfishly best or higher good for others
unselfishly seek the best or higher
good for others and
(22:51):
I could spend a lot of what's.
What's that?
Yeah, that's there. What's that?
The reference again.
Yes, that's Matthew 22
and it's first 39
and this, this I read from the NLP, butthis one that I just read is the amplified
and okay Greg, if you go to the Strong's
(23:13):
concordance on that love,
there's three typesof love in the Greek and
we have like an arrow,
like that's more physical and,you know, maybe more marital, I would say.
And then you have, is it philia,
somebody out there, how you feel?
That's brotherly. Love.
(23:35):
But the love
that God told us to do for the neighbors,go to your strong concordance.
And it's that the agape a unconditionallove boy that's a high calling.
Yeah it is an entirely anti entirely
we are
entirely incapable of doing thatwithout the empowering the Holy Spirit.
We in and of ourselves.
(23:56):
We can't do that.
So bingo, bingo.
So we can't even do itunless we're abiding in him.
And so let's talkpracticality at the park.
What might that look like?
So I'm the deputy director
and so I'm not somebodythat's going to lorded over people.
So sure,
if I see my programmer a little helpcleaning up after the program, I just.
(24:17):
I help them.
If I see trash in the park,I pick it up like, you know, I don't know.
There
it is. Seriously, just listening.
And like in my in my managermeetings, it's as simple
as listening to their points of view
and not ever making somebody feel stupid,but creating an atmosphere
(24:40):
that says, We are a teamand I hear you and I want to hear you.
I want to hear you.
I may not always go with what you suggest,but don't you stop suggesting it
like I mean, it is very practical,simple things.
Oh, the toilet paper's out.I can get that.
I don't want.
You don't have to come in and do thatfor this.
(25:01):
It's practical.
We don't. We don't.We make it so mystical, don't we?
Sometimes like what's not going to be.
Well, it can just be kindness.
And that's certainly holy.
You know, it's serving others.
Didn't didn't Jesus say,
whoever wants to be the greatest amongyou must become the servant of all? Yes.
(25:23):
Yeah.
And what did Jesus do?
Obviously,he is the greatest of. All right.
He created everything.
He's God, and yet he he
didn't grasp on to thatthat power in that right.
And he became flesh.
And he wrapped his sash in his outercloak around his waist
(25:43):
and got down in the dirt.
I don't think I've ever told youthis story.
I'm going to share the story.
God smack me upside the head.
Three things.
Some of those, right? So Jesus.
Well, I'm getting ahead of myself.
So back when I worked in radio freshout of college, part of my job was booking
(26:03):
bands in, in, in our local cafethat was attached to a bookstore.
We had local Christian bands come inand play on Friday and Saturday nights and
and it was my job to book them andto set up the chairs and the sounds system
and then clean up afterwards,including cleaning the bathrooms.
So there was this one night,
and maybe I shared thison a previous episode, I don't know,
(26:24):
but it's one of the most powerful thingsthat God has ever spoken to me.
And this closeto being the audible voice of God.
There was one nightthat one of the bathrooms
and I won't say whether itwas the men's or the women's
was it was particularly nasty.
It's just it.
And I had to clean this upand I'm cleaning up this bathroom.
(26:47):
And normally I love serving that.
That is my heart. I do like serving.
But that nightI was so disgusted by what I had to do
to clean this bathroom upthat I got angry and like, God,
I worked my butt off in college to havea, you know, get a decent job.
And and I went for a communicate optionsin broadcasting.
(27:09):
And here I am, you know, scraping upand cleaning up this nasty bathroom.
And just that quickI heard God's very loudly say,
if I can get down on my handsand knees in the dirt, in the dust
and wash a bunch of dirty fishermen'sand tax collectors, dusty,
smelly feet,can you scrub a toilet for me? Oh,
(27:32):
oh, oh,
oh, yeah.
So obviously it's impactful because you.
So you still remember that like.
Oh, I'll never forget thattill the day I die.
And yeah, that's livingfaith out in our jobs is serving others
no matter what it isthat he calls us to do.
(27:53):
So I have something the Holy Spirit
spoke to me this weekand it's in a different context.
So now I'm in management
and in executive level management,
and I carry burdens that
that have been that wayheavy on me sometimes.
And I'm often, as you can imagine, askingGod for wisdom, wisdom
(28:17):
and making a fair and just and rightdecision.
Well, this week in particular,
I had somebody come in and I was listeningand I was feeling,
again the weight of the storyand their frustrations
with some miscommunicationbetween some outside vendors and such. And
(28:42):
I guess what I need
to back up a little bit,as in in the last year,
I did have enough stress in my joband in just learning the ropes
of the new responsibilitiesactually had to go the doctor saw develop
some has chest pains and palpitationsand just things and you know I went
I had to get some tests donejust to make sure
because I'm getting I'm getting olderand, you.
(29:03):
Know. You got my attention.
What are you telling me?What do I need to do?
And I'll tell you what he said to me thisweek, Craig So all of my tests came back.
Good praise God. Good.
But he said,
You're not the Savior.
So I have felt so freeever since he said that to me.
(29:24):
Because what I realized I was doingand I didn't mean to
because I'm trying to be a good manager.
I'm trying to be a good leader, rightthis and that.
Trying and trying.
I'm I can't fix everything.
And I'm only I can't I cannot fixevery problem they're feeling.
Nor can I worry about
(29:44):
whether they're goingto stay or whether they're going to go.
All I can do is createthe I'm hoping to create like
like this culture that says you're valuedand I care.
And Iyou know, I don't have full reins yet, but
there was something just in that momentand that's not like
(30:09):
I guess we can almost
get like a martyr complex.
In my case,it must have been a savior complex
and the Lord so in a different way.
So, you know, sometimes we're not willingto do some of those menial things.
And then when we're in a positionwhere we're making decisions and stuff,
we can become prideful in a different wayand be like, I was like,
(30:30):
Lord, I'm so sorry.
And at the same time he freed me.
He was freeing me to say,
Melissa, focus on what you can do,what you can't control.
That these meetings were notyou weren't in these meetings.
You can certainly land in a listening ear.
But what I would do is I would learn list
and then I would go inand I really want to fix it for them.
I really want to fix things for people.
(30:50):
And that's not exactly my role either.
So we really I mean, I have need you know,I need we all we need them every day.
Every single day is new.
And every single dayI'm going to need something new
that I don't even knowwhat it's going to be,
because onlyhe knows what my day is going to hold.
(31:13):
And so, yeah, that's amazing.
Like in the Holy Spirit, like you said,he speaks to you and you just know.
I mean, I know it's like I'm not tellingmyself that that is the Lord's saying who
listen.
Yeah. Yeah.
Has there been any?
Yeah.
(31:33):
No. Working for the community,working under the state of Ohio.
You know, obviously. Yeah.
You have certain thingsyou have to observe
and respect like, like you shared ittowards the beginning of the podcast, but
have you had any instancesand you don't have to go into specifics
where maybe you've been able to praywith, with,
you know, a colleagueor an employee or a partygoer,
(31:54):
or have you had chances toto share the word specifically?
And if so, what does that look like?
Yeah, So I have I have had opportunitiesto pray with people
that might be goingthrough a challenging time like health,
especially healthor the health of their family.
And I would say,is it okay if I pray with you?
(32:16):
So I'm definitely asking permission.
I've also had the opportunity
to share from scriptures
because there are peoplethat have come to me
and I feel I feel that I can sharesomething Within the last couple of years,
one of my staff memberswho's now my program manager.
(32:38):
So Mike, if you listenhow Mike one day he said to me,
I was walking around and he kind of knewa little bit about my story
and in my story being in the last decadeor things like
I had, I had gone through a divorceand I had gone,
you know, gone through a cancer battleand just just some heavy, heavy things.
(32:59):
But what he saw was joy.
And he said, Melissa,can I ask you something?
And and heand he said, how how can you stay
so positivewith all the stuff you've been through?
Like, I don't know if I could do that.
And I did talk to Mike about my faith.
And Mike is very openlike he comes to me with questions
(33:23):
and so I am able to share with himbecause he
he is asking questions and not
he will tell you like he would admit,like I'm not I'm not a believer.
But he's he's nevermet believers that don't
that do
don't like maybe argue or kind of likeget pushy or you know just really
(33:45):
it's it's been like you knowit hasn't always been super positive
and so we're able to talkpolitics religion,
anything humanismI mean you name it, you know
and that's that's kind of the atmosphereI want to create because
nobody is going to carewhat we have to say.
(34:06):
Craig, in my opinion,until they know that we care.
So I can't share the gospel,I'm not going to be able
to share from the Bible unless they like
with people that I actually work with,
unless they know I care about whatwhat do they feel?
What do they think?
What you know,
(34:28):
tell me whatwhat are what's going on in your life?
But certainlyso I haven't like led somebody to Christ,
so to speak, or, you know, hey, John.
316 says God sent his,you know, loved us so much, he sent Jesus.
And guess what?
He sent Jesus not to condemn the world,but to save the world.
(34:50):
And it's it's not funny how we forgetthat part about not condemning.
I'm sorry. It's my. Did did thatcome out of my mouth?
It's my favorite partbecause most people want to avoid God,
especially they don't know Godbecause they're they're fearful.
Like I'm not good enough.
He's not to like me.
I'm like, he I'm going to be condemned.
(35:14):
They are who? I mean, I live like hell.
You know, I'm going to be condemned.
That's not why he came. That'swhy he came.
And you have to clean up first.
So I I've definitely been ableto share some things.
And then the one thingthat really sticks out in a different way
about God's favor is
(35:35):
I was a
middle manager a couple of years ago.
This person doesn't work there anymore.
And I had watched themworking with a group of people
with various abilities, disabilities,and they were
I just thought was such a beautiful thingthat we were doing.
And so I went back to this personand I said,
(35:59):
You are doing God's work and what you do.
And this person came back to me, closed
the door, said that they expecteda woman of my position in education.
That's the most I could say to them.
They were actually offended by what I said
and and
(36:21):
let me know.
I went to my director at the timeand I said I might have created an H.R.
problem. This is what I said.
This is what they said.
My director at the time,who's not even sure she believes in God
but knows me really well, got so angry,
she said, Melissa, if anybody knows you,
(36:43):
you just paid her the highest complimentyou could ever pay somebody.
And by gosh, it's over my dead body.
You're going to get in trouble for this,you know?
I mean, and that was somebody, again,not a believer,
but I don't you know,this is just me showing up to work,
doing the absolute best I'm able to doand thanking God that I'm able to do it.
(37:04):
And just being that way day after dayfor 20 years and this person has been my
been in
my life for over a decadeand she knew my work ethic.
And again, this was somebody that choseto take up an offense.
And again,I'm not saying that in judgment.
I'm saying that
(37:24):
instead of taking into account my life
and in the perspectivethat my director did,
I don't want to be that personthat just picks up an offense, okay?
I want people to be free
to say things around me, see thingsthat I don't agree with politically.
Please say things.
Say things that I don't agreewith. Please.
(37:45):
I don't want to be in an echo chamberwhere I'm only hearing the same stuff.
That's the beauty of the marketplace.
And. The temptationis to become like the world.
But the beauty of the marketplaceis it gets it's I know it's very secular,
I know it's very politicized right now
and that God is not liked Christians.
(38:06):
If you don't know,you're not liked, you are not like
you're not like.
Right.
You're you're eitheryou're either not living your faith.
Sorry.
I mean, I'm talking about me, too,
or we're misrepresented by peoplewho don't know the Lord.
There's so many reasons right now,
but they think that God hates them.
They think that Christians who hate them.
(38:29):
And, you know,
if I weren't in the marketplace,I might see that a little differently.
I might think that, well, likeI'll tell you a scripture that I'm seeing,
that I see Christians saying things like,well,
Jesus said, we're going to be hated
is the why, but why?
(38:50):
Please let it be because
I'm out serving and I'm loving
and talking and living the gospel.
Please don't let it be that I'm dying
for an issue or a person outside of Jesus.
Please, please, God.
Do you see himsaying it's a little touchy?
(39:11):
And I don't mean I'm just saying
I want to make sure I'm dying on the righthell, I'm dying on the radio.
And the tell for me is
Jesus his kingdom,
not something more temporary,not some man, not manmade infrastructures.
Not manmade systems not.
Yeah and I'm I voteI just want you know, I do vote
(39:34):
and I participate in our electoral systemand I'm very grateful
for the privilege to do so.
Womenwent before me to grant me that privilege
and my girls exercise that right.
So, I mean, you know, when we talkpolitics, I'm I'm involved,
but I'm notI don't lead I don't lead with that.
(39:55):
And the other thing I tell my childrenand I would challenge Christians
and I know there are people are goingto disagree with me and that's okay.
That's okay.
That's what it's about.
Let's have the discussion. Sure.
Know that my neighbors,who I'm trying to win for Christ,
statistically speaking, and our country,we are almost 5050
divided politically, right now.
We're almost 5051 way or the other.
(40:20):
And I put a sign in my yard
that supports anybody
on either side.
I told my kids, haveI just I'm just asking the question,
have I alienated neighbors because
now they know a political stancethat they may not agree with?
And have I just blocked themfrom my ability to share Christ?
(40:42):
I want to make sure that my
I'm an ambassador for Christfirst first Amen.
And so that's just a challenge.
You know, I just again, I want to have herconversations with Christians.
And I know someI mean, listen, we've got pastors in town.
My bestie is going to be our seniorpastor.
(41:02):
We've got pastors in townthat put political signs in their yard.
And I want to be ableto have the conversation like that.
And let's talk about it.
And he feels like he'scalled a god to do that.
And so he has to follow his conscience.
But, you know, I just told my girls, Ijust want to think about it a little bit.
You know, I don't know what my neighborspolitical stances are and if they perhaps
(41:27):
so love one person and, I'm like, here'smy political issues,
here's my political stance.
Am I blocking my ability to.
Share the.
Kingdom, share that with them?
Because that's the 1st of May,That's the 1st of May.
And and so, yeah, we're in differenttimes.
We're in charge, We're in.
(41:48):
It's not to me, of course, I'm only 50.
I'd love to sit down and talk to my grandgrandmother who's in heaven now.
What was the political climatelike for her?
You know,is it any different than it's ever been?
There'snothing new under the sun type of thing.
Yeah, very true.
Yeah, true.
You've seen so many of the thingsthat they said.
(42:09):
Well, this is part of why we're friends.
We think very similarly.
But I kind of had the same, same creedas I don't put political signs in my yard.
And it's not because I don't believe incertain issues
or, you know, lean one way or the other.
But it is because theas a follower of Christ,
as as a minister of the gospel, whichwe are all called, if we follow Jesus,
(42:32):
Ephesians chapter four,and I share this at the end of every
every podcast calls us
every day peopleto do the work of ministry every day,
followers of Jesus, the idea of clergyand laity is really kind
of a foreign conceptin that our pastors and teachers
equip us to do the work of ministry,and it's what Scripture say.
(42:55):
So if that's my first calling,my first job in this world,
and the purpose that God has made me for,
just like you said,if I put a political sign in my yard
and this is my conviction, I'm not again,we're not judging those that are.
Trying to feel.That God has called them to. Right.
And it's the same thing in our workplace
for me, if I put that sign in,
(43:15):
I've lost my opportunity potentially
to share the hope of the gospel,The kingdom, the number one message
that I'm called to carry,not the message of the Democrat Party
or the message of the Republican Partyor the message of the Libertarian Party.
My first message is to carry the Gospel,the hope of Jesus into people's lives.
And that's that message is going to carryinto eternity versus temporary politics
(43:40):
that are going to change with,you know, a shift of the wind.
So thank youfor sharing your heart on that.
But those of you that are listeninglisten, I were talking before the podcast
and she shared a little bitabout the political stuff.
She said, But I won't do that.
I'm like,I don't care if we talk politics.
Let's have a real conversation
and encourage each otherto look at different views.
And again, maybe you are called to workin politics and to serve in politics.
(44:04):
We have that right in this country.
We should take advantage of that.
We should exercise our civicresponsibility
to have a say in our government,
because that's a type of governmentGod has blessed us with.
So we don't want to
we don't want to put anybody downthat is involved in the political process.
Exactly.
And I think I just like you.
For me, I want I want to be challenged.
(44:25):
Like you said, you know,scripture says iron sharpens iron.
So I actually don't always want to bearound Christians that think like me.
I want to be challengedbecause how else are we to grow?
And you know what?That's how the disciples grow.
So I did a lot of study last yearabout studying under the rabbi
(44:48):
and really what discipleshipmeant in Jesus this time.
And it made me questionwhether I'm a disciple at all.
But they that's what they did.
They they sat around a tableand they grappled with the scriptures.
And that's part of the growth of it.
So like that one particular pastor
who had, you know, political signs,I do want to hear his view.
(45:11):
I want to hear his thoughtsand I want to hear mine and
and then take awayand live our conviction.
The Bible's very clearwe have to live our conscience before him.
Just like in my personal life,
I do not particularlyI do not think that drinking is wrong.
(45:31):
But I know that some Christians feelthe liberty to partake.
I do not feel that liberty.
So I don't I don't take it.
And whether I that makes me weak,you know,
that's not even an issuejust for me and the Lord.
So that's why I just want to make sureas Christians too, we're not
succumbing to any type of echo chamberwhere
we're only being validatedby the same people.
(45:54):
Let's preach like, I mean, you and I justvalidate each other and I'm grateful.
But that's not been particularly a
a popular talk in my life.
You know, I don't always feel safeto talk about these things.
You feel safeto talk about them right now.
And, you know, all of that.
Yeah, but all that to say, we didn't meanto get off on a political tangent,
(46:17):
but all of that to sayis that in the marketplace
we're going to rub shouldersand rub elbows with people
that believe in and live their livesdifferently than we do.
And what a great opportunityto carry the message of hope,
the Gospel, the fact that God loved usso much that He leaders life down for us
to live that out in practical ways tothose that we're working with every day.
(46:38):
You know, we're working 40plus hours a week.
If you ask me. You have a full time job.
And a lot of timeswe're living more of our life
with our coworkers than we areeven with our own families.
And so me and what an opportunitywe have to love with the agape,
the unconditional love of Godto those that
maybe have never experienced thator had a bad experience with the church.
(46:59):
So, you know, those of you listening,you have a divine calling.
And that's part of what Melissais investing in you
right now is the recognition of that
and understandingthat that serving in the name of Jesus
is just going to have a powerful impacton people's lives.
Yeah. Melissa, thank you.
(47:20):
Thank you for sharing you. It's honor.
It's a joy. It's great to see.
Craig and I are old enough.
We were talking before the podcastthat we're all not the same.
Maybe we've been friends for decades.
I mean, know.
We have they are two, two decadesYou see this great on in my
go to you Mercer Yeah, it'shard to believe it's been that long.
(47:40):
Hard to believe, but yeah.
So towards the end of every podcast,I always like to ask our guests
if you could talk to somebody else in yourin your industry right now
in the parks career field
that is a follower of Jesus.
What would you say to them to to encouragethem in their role as a minister
(48:01):
in in Metro Parks career. Yes.
So I guess whatI would say to you to encour.
Well, as believers, it's
it's such aI feel like it's such a high calling
that we are charged and trustedwith protecting God's creation.
And like, ultimately, that's what we'reI feel like we're going back to Genesis.
(48:21):
Okay?
Like we're we're like the storyin the fun, in the flora, and
and eventhat is such a privilege to be in that.
And then just in very practical ways,celebrate
with those that when something goodhappens, mourn with them when they're sad.
I mean, just just be presentand listening.
(48:44):
And I'm telling you, I truly believe God.
God has opened up the conversationsfor me.
I have not had to push them.
And so I believe that for you as well,those who are working in the parks,
it's a it's a privilegefor us to be able to work.
I mean, we don't talk about it a lot.We kind of joke.
It's like, oh, I'm going to work.
(49:06):
It's a privilege and God always meant forthere to be the tension of work and rest
and sort of work in the parks, inmy opinion, is such a high calling
and andGod's entrusted us not only with his
with nature,but with the the people and the community.
And we're just a tiny, tiny, tiny
(49:27):
pinprick, you know, and maybe
in the big scheme of things, but
very important nonetheless.
I'm going to ask you a question.
If somebody wanted to,
to pick your brain or talk with youa little bit more about living faith
out in the workplace, in the parks,maybe there's somebody working the parks
right now
that is trying to figure out, Jesus,how do I follow you in this in this role?
(49:51):
Do you mind if they reach out to you?
And if so, how can they get a hold of you.
So they can reach me at mranaeprice,
And I'm going to spell thatbecause it's a little weird spelling.
So M for Melissa, R - A, N as is in
Nancy A - E Price.
The price is right.
That's how I say it so gmail.com,and I would love to hear anybody
(50:17):
who even if you're just encouraged at allor something touched your heart
that wouldjust be an encouragement to me and Craig.
So thank you.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
And we've got it on the screen as well
so that you canyou can write that down as well.
Melissa, thank you so much againfor taking time to to join me here
and just encouragethose that are listening and watching in
(50:41):
living as a minister of the gospel,in their job, in their career,
I was excited when we when we touch baseand talked about you coming on.
So appreciate you coming on.
Thank you so much.
So thank you for joining us this week.
If you have a question for the podcast,you can email theworkweekwalk@gmail.com.
(51:02):
We'd love to hear from you.
Maybe you've got an idea for a careerfield.
It might be you I interview. Who knows?
But dropping an email,we'd love to hear from you.
If you're watching YouTube,you can leave a comment
in the comment sectionand let's get a conversation going.
We would love that.
Also, don't forget again,to subscribe like share.
If you've found this beneficialand encouraging, we'd just love to be able
(51:25):
to equip more working on an everydayworkplace just with these conversations.
So every podcast I
and I talked about thisa little bit earlier,
we end with a particular passagethat I think really encapsulates
the whole reason for for the workweekwalk.
And it's it's Ephesianschapter four verses 11 through 13.
I'm going to read this from the New Livingtranslation.
(51:47):
We'll put it up on the screen as well.
It says this now, these are the gifts
Christ gave to the church,the apostles the prophets,
the evangelists and the pastorsand the teachers.
Their responsibility is to equipGod's people
to do his work and build up the church,the body of Christ.
This will continueuntil we all come to such unity
(52:10):
in our faith and knowledge of God's Son
that will we will be mature in the Lord,
measuring up to the full and completestandard of Christ.
Man, what a beautiful, awesome passage.
So understand that pastors and teachers,they have an awesome role
that God has called them to, but they arenot alone in the work of ministry.
(52:30):
Their job isn't isn't to buildthe church by themselves.
Their job is to equip usto do the work of ministry in our jobs,
in our families, in our everyday lives.
And we'rethe ones called to build up the church.
So if you're not a part of helping,you invite others to to your community
of believers or or sharing the gospeland you're putting it all on Pastor.
(52:52):
Scripturally, that's incorrect.
We're the ones called to helpbuild that church.
So I just want you to understandthat you have been called
you have a purposethat God has made you for in his kingdom.
He's given you gifts and talents,and he's filled you with a spirit
to do all of this.So don't think of yourself.
If you're not serving in full timevocational ministry, we might call it.
(53:16):
You can't think of yourself as a secondrate Christian or a second rate believer.
We are all ministers, so understand that.
Hear the passion of God's voicein this passage and effusions.
For that you have purpose in His kingdomand the work of the Kingdom to do so.
Remember, we've all been called to dothe work of ministry everyday
(53:37):
in our everyday workplaces.
You have an opportunity every day,every day of the week to really make
an eternal impact in somebody's life,a co-worker's life, a colleague's life,
a customer's life, a parkgoers life.
So just rest in that.
Take some joy in thatthat you have purpose and until next week,
(53:58):
just have a blessed weekdive into his word.
Get to know the heart of the fatherand just have an amazing week.
Be blessed.
Thank you
for joining us for the Work WeekWalk podcast:
living out your faithauthentically in the everyday workplace.
We're praying you have a great weekat work, living out your faith in Jesus,
(54:21):
in an authentic waythat transforms the atmosphere around you.
For the first time in the last year,I had an H.R.
training
for managers that said if two people
are talking about their faith,are you ready for this?
You and I are talking about our faithin the workplace.
And Susie Q John Doe
over here don't like it.
(00:21):
And they tell us to stop,but we still want to talk.
That can be considereda hostile environment.
Welcome to the Work Week Walk podcast.
Living out your faithauthentically in the everyday workplace
with your host, Craig Magrum.
(00:45):
Welcome to the Work Week Walk podcast.
This podcast is all about living our faithin Jesus,
out in the everyday work worldthat that we're involved in.
Our jobs, our careers,and we're really going to be tackling:
how do wehow do we live as followers and disciples
of Jesus in the workplaceduring our work week?
My name is Craig Magrum.
(01:05):
I work in sales businessdevelopment client care, and
my goal in this
podcast is really to grow with you
in living my faith out in my job.
And we're going to encourage each otherthe guests that we have on.
We're going to have guests on this podcastevery week sharing their experiences of
following Jesus and ministering to othersand carrying that message of the Gospel
(01:29):
to their colleagues, to their customers,
their clients, and learn from each other.
Really, this this platform is about
equipping you,enabling you to do the work of ministry
and giving others the opportunity to equipand to invest in others.
It's a community
where we're really seeking Jesus togetherin the everyday workplace.
(01:52):
And that voice you just heard is our guestthis week.
I'm going to introduce herin just a minute.
But before we get to that, oh, Melissa,
this is going to be a lot of fun.
Before we get to that, though,
I do want to invite you to subscribeto the Work Week Walk podcast,
whether it's the audio podcastor here on YouTube, hit subscribe.
(02:13):
What that does is when a new episodecomes out, you'll get a notification
that a new a new episode has dropped.
And I would invite you to,if you find some value in this, like,
you know, like it.
Share it with others.
If you know of other believersthat you work with or just other believers
in general that you're working outin the everyday marketplace
and you think this could benefit them.
(02:35):
I just encourage you share it,
not not for the sake of the popularityof the podcast, but just
it's some proverbs it says
is iron sharpensiron when one person sharpens another.
And that's the whole goal of thisis to sharpen each other.
So subscribe, like share, you know,
all that YouTube stuffthat people do in social media.
But ultimately, if it if it equipsone person, great, that's awesome.
(02:58):
So today we are exploring living our faith
out in the beautiful, wondrousoutdoors, the creation of God,
more specifically, the park systems.
So faith in the park system.
And you might think, okay, that's athat's a career field.
I wouldn't be at the top of my mind.
(03:18):
But think of
do this, think of all what is neededto run and maintain our parks.
You know, from the very top,the executive director
to to the groundskeepers, to the Rangers.
There's just a lot of workthat has to be done to maintain
these outdoor spaces that Godhas so awesomely created for us to enjoy.
(03:41):
And there are people
working in those park systemsthat are followers of Jesus and know that
he's the author of that creationand the greatest artist of of all time.
So today we are exploringliving our faith out in the park system.
And my guest is Melissa Price.
She is the Deputy Director of the ErieMetroparks System here in Ohio.
(04:01):
Did I get that right, Melissa?
Yes, we're based in here in Ohio.
We are jurisdiction is all of Erie County.
So we have like over 3000 acreswe preserve. Wow.
That's a lot of land.
So even more important to methan her being the deputy director
of the Erie Metroparks: is it metroparks or just park system? (04:19):
undefined
It is the metroparks.
Yes, it's plural. Okay. All right.
All right.
So more importantly to me,
long time friend and a sister in Christand a passionate lover of Jesus
that is not afraid to speak the truthof the gospel
and encourage others.
(04:40):
Melissa, thank you for joiningjoining me on the Work Week Walk.
I'm so honored. I'm so honored to be here.
There's very few things I get fired up
about more than the Lord.
My hour, his word,
family.
And then definitely I'm very passionateabout what I do.
I feel very honored to work in a place
(05:05):
that works and serves the community.
And Craig, what's interesting is
I do feel thatParks was kind of like a hidden thing.
Like,you know, it's something you might pick.
You take your family tofor a picnic or whatever.
And then COVID hits a global pandemic.
And we had a people, you know, literallythat were all of a sudden
(05:28):
it seemed like parks were in the spotlightfor the first time.
And, you know, we had reportsthat showed that our foot traffic tripled
and there were people that maybewere in apartments that couldn't get out
and a green spacesand come on out to our trails
and breathe the clean airand socially distance.
So it was so interestingbecause I've been in parks for 28 years
(05:51):
and something about the global pandemickind of uniquely shifted
a spotlight on us,where I feel like we've been kind
of the quiet, hidden, essential,if you if you know what I mean.
Sure.
So, yeah, I feel very honored to workthere.
That's awesome.
So do you mind just introducing yourself,
you know, both personallyand then professionally?
(06:12):
What you do is as a deputy directorof of a metroparks system
and just, you know,
talk about your, your responsibilities,but a little bit about yourself as well.
Yes. So I,
I actually grew up in southern Ohio,and I joke I'm a bit of a hillbilly
because I was born in Wheeling,West Virginia, and in southern Ohio.
(06:34):
I just remember as a young girl,everybody kind of stuck around the area.
And there was something inside of me
that really, really wanted to go awayand get an education.
So I ended up gettingmy undergraduate degree
at Bowling Green StateUniversity in Bowling Green, Ohio.
And it was there that I first came to knowthe Lord.
It was actually my freshman year, and I,
(06:58):
I think I would sayI had one of those radical conversions.
I mean, I know peoplethere are people that like don't always
maybe know the date.
I'm like November 4th, 1991.
I was wearing a gray blazer and a pinktank top.
And, you know,I just remember the feeling that day
and for whateverreason, by the grace of God,
I was plugged in and growing immediately,like I digested
(07:22):
the entire Bible, probably inlike a couple months, like, and,
and, and so that's been 30 years.
I'm going on let's see,I'm going to be 50.
I accepted Christ at 19and I can't really say
there's been a time that I've
I mean, you know,
everybody's journeys a little differentand you know, you might see people
(07:44):
maybe get like kind of
maybe not go to church for a whileor maybe
maybe they're I've never been that person.
And again, I,
I don't know why I can tell youhow to pray and mom and a praying grandma.
So it's all their fault, right?
But yeah, I've been pretty much walkingwith the Lord all of that time.
So I landed in parks in 2002
(08:08):
as a part time person.
It was ready for this.
It was a part time accounting clerkposition until I found my real career.
Okay.
That's as life goes.
We just don'tever always know what God has planned.
And so I just worked my to my bestin this part time job.
(08:31):
And what I told my children isI just continued to take
every opportunity given mewhether that was in training
or whetherthat was in different positions.
I was open to whatever I could doand become there.
And I had no idea what park systems do.
(08:54):
And like you mentioned, Craig,the specific Metro Park system I work for,
we're charged by the state of Ohiolike we're formed under a statute
in the state of Ohio.
And our specific mission with our parkis that we preserve the natural resources
in Erie County and our missionthen is not only to preserve,
but to connect peoplelike you and everybody
(09:16):
to those natural resourcesthrough education and exploration.
So that's our mission. And boy,that's a mission.
As a believer, I can get behind. Oh, sure.
You know, and, and,
and so
I've just continued to,you know, get promoted.
I continue to get training.
And here I am by
(09:38):
the grace of God,I will be the executive director
when my director retires this yearat the end of this year.
Congratulations. Yeah, that's exciting.
Wow. I have so excited for you.
That's awesome.
Did you just as an aside,I don't think I've ever told you this,
but I just came back to my memorythis morning
(09:59):
as I was thinking about recording thiswhen I was a kid.
I actually one of the things I wantedto be when I grew up was a park ranger.
Oh, my gosh. Yeah, yeah.
Now that I understand.
Okay, What
what a park ranger is, I'm thinking wordthat I should have been thinking.
I want to be a park.
Grounds person is working with the nature,not law enforcement,
(10:19):
because that's just.
I hate confrontation. Oh.
So I have so many funny stories aboutmy ignorance with parks, so I didn't know.
Like you said,I did not know all that parks do.
So to run a park, you definitely needpeople to take care of the grounds.
So you have an operations staff
that are cleaning those sheltersand they're cleaning the bathrooms
(10:43):
and they're mowing andand they're taking the trees off
that fell down on the natural trailthat you're hiking on.
We have a natural resource teamthat fights invasive species.
Now, as. A.
Ten year old, I went invasive species.
You mean like aliens coming from Mars?I do not.
I feel like I was so ignorantto what that even was.
(11:05):
And understanding that we,you know, we want
our areas are natural areas, too.
We want our native planning to thrive.
And so invasivescome in, especially up on Lake Erie.
I'm by I'm on Lake Erie a lot of our landis against against the lake.
And as you can imagine, viawonderful measures by boats
(11:27):
or people that you know by plantingsthat are not native to Ohio, they
then they start to seed and they take overbecause we don't have a way to combat
those in our natural areas sothey can take over the native plantings.
So we have a natural resource department,we have a programing staff,
they teach people how to canoe and kayakand stand up paddleboards
(11:50):
they do crafts, they do this goal.
There's so many thingsthat our programs staff does.
We have marketing.
Marketing and we have a 19 guy,we have a county,
and we have to pay people,we have to pay our vendors.
So it'sjust and then I just really oversee
all of that and then I can represent usin outside meetings.
(12:12):
I get to advocate for us, like here. And,
and once I was promoted to deputy,I basically
I basically had the full authority,like in the absence
of the executive director,I'm running all of these,
all of these thingsand just have oversight.
Kind of like, sure feel like I'mmaking fun a little bit of my age
(12:36):
and the time in the ten tenureI had there.
But I feel like I'm the like wise old owl,
like with the glasses on the on the nose.
And I, you know, it's
just sometimes it's just it's honestlyjust more, you know, the experience
and the breadth of experience that I havethat just helps me in the position.
So I have a great staffwho love the people I work with.
I love them.
(12:58):
That's that's awesome.
Sounds like it's a good,
good, healthy culture that you're helpingset in in your leadership role.
So that actually kind of leads beautifullyinto really my first my first question,
let's just dive into this great,
great background on what you doand what the park system does.
So thank you for sharing that
because that that describesyour career, that describes
(13:19):
the workplace that you're working in.
We all have different workplaces,but as a as a follower of Jesus
now in the role that you're in,what does ministry look like?
Let's just dive right into it.
What does ministry look like in the role
of a deputy director in in a park systemor just working
in parks in general,because you have worked in different.
(13:41):
Roles. Within the parks?
Yes. So it's been an interesting ride
because I as you know,I am not I'm a not a quiet Christian.
I mean, I'm not out there preaching,
but I unabashedly talk about the Lordbecause he's
it would be to not talk about Jesus for me
is like to not talk about my husbandor not talk about my children.
(14:04):
It's so intertwined.
He's such a part of everything I do thatI almost can't not bring him up.
I can tell you now that I'm in management,
what I am more sensitive to is that
and from some additional trainingI've had,
I want to make sure, like,let me back up a little, Craig.
(14:29):
For the first timein the last year, I had an H.R.
training
for managers that said if
two people are talking about their faith,are you ready for this?
You and I are talkingabout our faith in the workplace
and Susie Q John Doe over here
don't like it,
(14:50):
and they tell us to stop,but we still want to talk.
That can be considereda hostile environment,
a hostile work environment.
And for the first timemy spidey senses proven to do,
and they knewwe were in a very secular marketplace.
We are creating people that are followingChrist, are in the minority.
(15:13):
And I went, okay,
so instead of getting all defensive
about that and being like,Oh my gosh, I can't.
I'm still who I am.
But I might say things like Iand I can tell you I do this.
You can ask my staff,
Hey, I'm going to share somethingbut is going to evolve my faith.
(15:35):
I am going to share somethingthat happened at my church or something
that's happened in my life
and I
and not maybe every culture is like this.
Like you said, I'm
in a I'm in a service based culture,which is very, very godly thing.
It's a very righteous thing.
And we are there to serve our community
and we hire by a value system.
(15:58):
So the people I work withare already freaking amazing.
And so I'm very free, but I'm very for
I allow people to say whatever.
Craig People can tell me anything
they can say everything about.
I've even been made fun of by somebody.
(16:19):
I won't say specifically who it is,but it's.
Probably good.
That person is still,and like in my life and employed there.
But I doI do remember when they specifically
challenged my faith downto like the publications
of the written scriptsand kind of was like
(16:42):
making fun of like the word of God
and, and I was in a meeting with managersand I could,
you could hear a pin drop and everybody'swaiting to see what I'm going to say.
And I just said, Wow,I think that lends more to the credibility
of the scriptures that they were foundjust a couple hundred years apart.
(17:02):
It just didn't.
Yeah, I don't feelI don't know how to say it.
Craig, but I'm not offended.
I'm not easily offended anyway.
But I you can say anything to me.
You can tell meyou think I'm stupid to believe in Jesus.
You can tell me
and I'll listen to you.
I'm going to listen to you.
I don't have to defend God.
(17:23):
God's the will were the Holy Spirit.
So we're. We're right.
I just have to be real.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
And the pointabout not being offended easily,
I mean, as believers,we shouldn't be anyway.
Jesus told us if the world hates you,just remember it hated me first.
(17:44):
And yet he lays his life down for usbefore we even come to him.
So, yeah, offense is not a character traitthat we as believers
should be carrying so easily,and it seems like we can be
so easily offended, especially here in thein the States, in the Western church.
I mean, you think about the factI'm I'm going to preach now.
(18:05):
You think about the fact of that
that for most of its history,the church in various
cultures and places in the worldand throughout time
since the church was established,it's been a persecuted church.
It's we've we as is believers,have largely had the freedom
of practicing our faith freelyand without fear of reprisal.
(18:29):
Really, the American church,the Western church, is really an enigma
and an anomaly in the timeline of.
The Church. Of Jesus. Yes.
And and so any time,any time we have the slightest little,
you know, bit of somebody making fun of usor following Jesus, we do get offended.
And hey, I have the right,you know, the right to practice my faith.
(18:49):
And we we act in waysthat just traditionally that
that's not how we're that that's nothow Jesus has called us to live.
So you preach more.
So I've noticedI think one thing that concern I,
I don't know ifI want to say it's a trend or
but something
that I that's that bothers meor that I wrestle with a little bit
(19:12):
is I,
I don't want to become so focused on
what's happening in our culturewith issues in politics.
As much as I want to look at the kingdom,
I feel like I want to make sure
(19:33):
I'm looking more globally.
It's very easy for usin America to feel like.
I mean, we're almost looking at the tree,so this tree is really bothering me.
I don't like that this tree is there,and I just want to make sure,
like I'm keeping my focus eternal
(19:53):
and it's not that these other thingsgoing on
in our modern culture aren't important,
but I can tell you that
the news, whether it bethe news or social media, has stolen,
I feel our God's voiceor our voice in this sense that
(20:16):
it's a weapon like Scripture
and God is almost weaponizedand it's been used in
not not the way that I see Jesus
live his daily life.
So then I have to I have to go, okay,
How what, what,how do I how do I want to live and how so?
(20:39):
You know, I'm I'm praying in the mornings.
I want the Holy Spirit to fill me up.
Lord, keep me focused,keep me focused on you
and above what's happening in our culture,because the church is global, Lord,
the church is global.
Brothers and sisters in Christin the Ukraine that are in war. And,
you know, the things that are going on
(20:59):
in our nation are important,
and I will pray for our nation.
But I can tell you justI don't work with very many Christians,
and I can tell you largely
that the perception of the church, again,whoever we want to blame
and for whateverreason, is not looked at fondly.
(21:21):
Okay.
And if we were living, I'm going to justpull out of Mother Teresa card.
Let's just say we're all livinglike Mother Teresa.
Ain't nobody gonna have a bad wordto say about Mother Teresa, right?
She lived out her calling.
So if I live on my calling,whatever, you know, I mean,
I guess what I'm saying isI don't want to pick up a banner
(21:41):
or a couple banners or issuesso much as I just want to make sure
I'm leading with God's love.
I mean, I'm super theological.
Kraig People,if people that are listening to us
don't know I'm a book nerdand that might surprise people.
And I read constantlyand I study constantly.
And what I love that Jesus didfor us in practical ality in ministry is
(22:06):
love for me and love others.
And to love others.
Part is so beautiful because
it's amplified. Actually.
Can I let me fine.
I want to get the amplified version upbecause I just brought this up
to look at it againactually in preparation for the podcast.
But where is the Bible app?
(22:28):
There it is.
Yeah.
It says You shall love your neighboras yourself.
That is because, you know,Amplify is going to expound it for you
unselfishly best or higher good for others
unselfishly seek the best or higher
good for others and
(22:51):
I could spend a lot of what's.
What's that?
Yeah, that's there. What's that?
The reference again.
Yes, that's Matthew 22
and it's first 39
and this, this I read from the NLP, butthis one that I just read is the amplified
and okay Greg, if you go to the Strong's
(23:13):
concordance on that love,
there's three typesof love in the Greek and
we have like an arrow,
like that's more physical and,you know, maybe more marital, I would say.
And then you have, is it philia,
somebody out there, how you feel?
That's brotherly. Love.
(23:35):
But the love
that God told us to do for the neighbors,go to your strong concordance.
And it's that the agape a unconditionallove boy that's a high calling.
Yeah it is an entirely anti entirely
we are
entirely incapable of doing thatwithout the empowering the Holy Spirit.
We in and of ourselves.
(23:56):
We can't do that.
So bingo, bingo.
So we can't even do itunless we're abiding in him.
And so let's talkpracticality at the park.
What might that look like?
So I'm the deputy director
and so I'm not somebodythat's going to lorded over people.
So sure,
if I see my programmer a little helpcleaning up after the program, I just.
(24:17):
I help them.
If I see trash in the park,I pick it up like, you know, I don't know.
There
it is. Seriously, just listening.
And like in my in my managermeetings, it's as simple
as listening to their points of view
and not ever making somebody feel stupid,but creating an atmosphere
(24:40):
that says, We are a teamand I hear you and I want to hear you.
I want to hear you.
I may not always go with what you suggest,but don't you stop suggesting it
like I mean, it is very practical,simple things.
Oh, the toilet paper's out.I can get that.
I don't want.
You don't have to come in and do thatfor this.
(25:01):
It's practical.
We don't. We don't.We make it so mystical, don't we?
Sometimes like what's not going to be.
Well, it can just be kindness.
And that's certainly holy.
You know, it's serving others.
Didn't didn't Jesus say,
whoever wants to be the greatest amongyou must become the servant of all? Yes.
(25:23):
Yeah.
And what did Jesus do?
Obviously,he is the greatest of. All right.
He created everything.
He's God, and yet he he
didn't grasp on to thatthat power in that right.
And he became flesh.
And he wrapped his sash in his outercloak around his waist
(25:43):
and got down in the dirt.
I don't think I've ever told youthis story.
I'm going to share the story.
God smack me upside the head.
Three things.
Some of those, right? So Jesus.
Well, I'm getting ahead of myself.
So back when I worked in radio freshout of college, part of my job was booking
(26:03):
bands in, in, in our local cafethat was attached to a bookstore.
We had local Christian bands come inand play on Friday and Saturday nights and
and it was my job to book them andto set up the chairs and the sounds system
and then clean up afterwards,including cleaning the bathrooms.
So there was this one night,
and maybe I shared thison a previous episode, I don't know,
(26:24):
but it's one of the most powerful thingsthat God has ever spoken to me.
And this closeto being the audible voice of God.
There was one nightthat one of the bathrooms
and I won't say whether itwas the men's or the women's
was it was particularly nasty.
It's just it.
And I had to clean this upand I'm cleaning up this bathroom.
(26:47):
And normally I love serving that.
That is my heart. I do like serving.
But that nightI was so disgusted by what I had to do
to clean this bathroom upthat I got angry and like, God,
I worked my butt off in college to havea, you know, get a decent job.
And and I went for a communicate optionsin broadcasting.
(27:09):
And here I am, you know, scraping upand cleaning up this nasty bathroom.
And just that quickI heard God's very loudly say,
if I can get down on my handsand knees in the dirt, in the dust
and wash a bunch of dirty fishermen'sand tax collectors, dusty,
smelly feet,can you scrub a toilet for me? Oh,
(27:32):
oh, oh,
oh, yeah.
So obviously it's impactful because you.
So you still remember that like.
Oh, I'll never forget thattill the day I die.
And yeah, that's livingfaith out in our jobs is serving others
no matter what it isthat he calls us to do.
(27:53):
So I have something the Holy Spirit
spoke to me this weekand it's in a different context.
So now I'm in management
and in executive level management,
and I carry burdens that
that have been that wayheavy on me sometimes.
And I'm often, as you can imagine, askingGod for wisdom, wisdom
(28:17):
and making a fair and just and rightdecision.
Well, this week in particular,
I had somebody come in and I was listeningand I was feeling,
again the weight of the storyand their frustrations
with some miscommunicationbetween some outside vendors and such. And
(28:42):
I guess what I need
to back up a little bit,as in in the last year,
I did have enough stress in my joband in just learning the ropes
of the new responsibilitiesactually had to go the doctor saw develop
some has chest pains and palpitationsand just things and you know I went
I had to get some tests donejust to make sure
because I'm getting I'm getting olderand, you.
(29:03):
Know. You got my attention.
What are you telling me?What do I need to do?
And I'll tell you what he said to me thisweek, Craig So all of my tests came back.
Good praise God. Good.
But he said,
You're not the Savior.
So I have felt so freeever since he said that to me.
(29:24):
Because what I realized I was doingand I didn't mean to
because I'm trying to be a good manager.
I'm trying to be a good leader, rightthis and that.
Trying and trying.
I'm I can't fix everything.
And I'm only I can't I cannot fixevery problem they're feeling.
Nor can I worry about
(29:44):
whether they're goingto stay or whether they're going to go.
All I can do is createthe I'm hoping to create like
like this culture that says you're valuedand I care.
And Iyou know, I don't have full reins yet, but
there was something just in that momentand that's not like
(30:09):
I guess we can almost
get like a martyr complex.
In my case,it must have been a savior complex
and the Lord so in a different way.
So, you know, sometimes we're not willingto do some of those menial things.
And then when we're in a positionwhere we're making decisions and stuff,
we can become prideful in a different wayand be like, I was like,
(30:30):
Lord, I'm so sorry.
And at the same time he freed me.
He was freeing me to say,
Melissa, focus on what you can do,what you can't control.
That these meetings were notyou weren't in these meetings.
You can certainly land in a listening ear.
But what I would do is I would learn list
and then I would go inand I really want to fix it for them.
I really want to fix things for people.
(30:50):
And that's not exactly my role either.
So we really I mean, I have need you know,I need we all we need them every day.
Every single day is new.
And every single dayI'm going to need something new
that I don't even knowwhat it's going to be,
because onlyhe knows what my day is going to hold.
(31:13):
And so, yeah, that's amazing.
Like in the Holy Spirit, like you said,he speaks to you and you just know.
I mean, I know it's like I'm not tellingmyself that that is the Lord's saying who
listen.
Yeah. Yeah.
Has there been any?
Yeah.
(31:33):
No. Working for the community,working under the state of Ohio.
You know, obviously. Yeah.
You have certain thingsyou have to observe
and respect like, like you shared ittowards the beginning of the podcast, but
have you had any instancesand you don't have to go into specifics
where maybe you've been able to praywith, with,
you know, a colleagueor an employee or a partygoer,
(31:54):
or have you had chances toto share the word specifically?
And if so, what does that look like?
Yeah, So I have I have had opportunitiesto pray with people
that might be goingthrough a challenging time like health,
especially healthor the health of their family.
And I would say,is it okay if I pray with you?
(32:16):
So I'm definitely asking permission.
I've also had the opportunity
to share from scriptures
because there are peoplethat have come to me
and I feel I feel that I can sharesomething Within the last couple of years,
one of my staff memberswho's now my program manager.
(32:38):
So Mike, if you listenhow Mike one day he said to me,
I was walking around and he kind of knewa little bit about my story
and in my story being in the last decadeor things like
I had, I had gone through a divorceand I had gone,
you know, gone through a cancer battleand just just some heavy, heavy things.
(32:59):
But what he saw was joy.
And he said, Melissa,can I ask you something?
And and heand he said, how how can you stay
so positivewith all the stuff you've been through?
Like, I don't know if I could do that.
And I did talk to Mike about my faith.
And Mike is very openlike he comes to me with questions
(33:23):
and so I am able to share with himbecause he
he is asking questions and not
he will tell you like he would admit,like I'm not I'm not a believer.
But he's he's nevermet believers that don't
that do
don't like maybe argue or kind of likeget pushy or you know just really
(33:45):
it's it's been like you knowit hasn't always been super positive
and so we're able to talkpolitics religion,
anything humanismI mean you name it, you know
and that's that's kind of the atmosphereI want to create because
nobody is going to carewhat we have to say.
(34:06):
Craig, in my opinion,until they know that we care.
So I can't share the gospel,I'm not going to be able
to share from the Bible unless they like
with people that I actually work with,
unless they know I care about whatwhat do they feel?
What do they think?
What you know,
(34:28):
tell me whatwhat are what's going on in your life?
But certainlyso I haven't like led somebody to Christ,
so to speak, or, you know, hey, John.
316 says God sent his,you know, loved us so much, he sent Jesus.
And guess what?
He sent Jesus not to condemn the world,but to save the world.
(34:50):
And it's it's not funny how we forgetthat part about not condemning.
I'm sorry. It's my. Did did thatcome out of my mouth?
It's my favorite partbecause most people want to avoid God,
especially they don't know Godbecause they're they're fearful.
Like I'm not good enough.
He's not to like me.
I'm like, he I'm going to be condemned.
(35:14):
They are who? I mean, I live like hell.
You know, I'm going to be condemned.
That's not why he came. That'swhy he came.
And you have to clean up first.
So I I've definitely been ableto share some things.
And then the one thingthat really sticks out in a different way
about God's favor is
(35:35):
I was a
middle manager a couple of years ago.
This person doesn't work there anymore.
And I had watched themworking with a group of people
with various abilities, disabilities,and they were
I just thought was such a beautiful thingthat we were doing.
And so I went back to this personand I said,
(35:59):
You are doing God's work and what you do.
And this person came back to me, closed
the door, said that they expecteda woman of my position in education.
That's the most I could say to them.
They were actually offended by what I said
and and
(36:21):
let me know.
I went to my director at the timeand I said I might have created an H.R.
problem. This is what I said.
This is what they said.
My director at the time,who's not even sure she believes in God
but knows me really well, got so angry,
she said, Melissa, if anybody knows you,
(36:43):
you just paid her the highest complimentyou could ever pay somebody.
And by gosh, it's over my dead body.
You're going to get in trouble for this,you know?
I mean, and that was somebody, again,not a believer,
but I don't you know,this is just me showing up to work,
doing the absolute best I'm able to doand thanking God that I'm able to do it.
(37:04):
And just being that way day after dayfor 20 years and this person has been my
been in
my life for over a decadeand she knew my work ethic.
And again, this was somebody that choseto take up an offense.
And again,I'm not saying that in judgment.
I'm saying that
(37:24):
instead of taking into account my life
and in the perspectivethat my director did,
I don't want to be that personthat just picks up an offense, okay?
I want people to be free
to say things around me, see thingsthat I don't agree with politically.
Please say things.
Say things that I don't agreewith. Please.
(37:45):
I don't want to be in an echo chamberwhere I'm only hearing the same stuff.
That's the beauty of the marketplace.
And. The temptationis to become like the world.
But the beauty of the marketplaceis it gets it's I know it's very secular,
I know it's very politicized right now
and that God is not liked Christians.
(38:06):
If you don't know,you're not liked, you are not like
you're not like.
Right.
You're you're eitheryou're either not living your faith.
Sorry.
I mean, I'm talking about me, too,
or we're misrepresented by peoplewho don't know the Lord.
There's so many reasons right now,
but they think that God hates them.
They think that Christians who hate them.
(38:29):
And, you know,
if I weren't in the marketplace,I might see that a little differently.
I might think that, well, likeI'll tell you a scripture that I'm seeing,
that I see Christians saying things like,well,
Jesus said, we're going to be hated
is the why, but why?
(38:50):
Please let it be because
I'm out serving and I'm loving
and talking and living the gospel.
Please don't let it be that I'm dying
for an issue or a person outside of Jesus.
Please, please, God.
Do you see himsaying it's a little touchy?
(39:11):
And I don't mean I'm just saying
I want to make sure I'm dying on the righthell, I'm dying on the radio.
And the tell for me is
Jesus his kingdom,
not something more temporary,not some man, not manmade infrastructures.
Not manmade systems not.
Yeah and I'm I voteI just want you know, I do vote
(39:34):
and I participate in our electoral systemand I'm very grateful
for the privilege to do so.
Womenwent before me to grant me that privilege
and my girls exercise that right.
So, I mean, you know, when we talkpolitics, I'm I'm involved,
but I'm notI don't lead I don't lead with that.
(39:55):
And the other thing I tell my childrenand I would challenge Christians
and I know there are people are goingto disagree with me and that's okay.
That's okay.
That's what it's about.
Let's have the discussion. Sure.
Know that my neighbors,who I'm trying to win for Christ,
statistically speaking, and our country,we are almost 5050
divided politically, right now.
We're almost 5051 way or the other.
(40:20):
And I put a sign in my yard
that supports anybody
on either side.
I told my kids, haveI just I'm just asking the question,
have I alienated neighbors because
now they know a political stancethat they may not agree with?
And have I just blocked themfrom my ability to share Christ?
(40:42):
I want to make sure that my
I'm an ambassador for Christfirst first Amen.
And so that's just a challenge.
You know, I just again, I want to have herconversations with Christians.
And I know someI mean, listen, we've got pastors in town.
My bestie is going to be our seniorpastor.
(41:02):
We've got pastors in townthat put political signs in their yard.
And I want to be ableto have the conversation like that.
And let's talk about it.
And he feels like he'scalled a god to do that.
And so he has to follow his conscience.
But, you know, I just told my girls, Ijust want to think about it a little bit.
You know, I don't know what my neighborspolitical stances are and if they perhaps
(41:27):
so love one person and, I'm like, here'smy political issues,
here's my political stance.
Am I blocking my ability to.
Share the.
Kingdom, share that with them?
Because that's the 1st of May,That's the 1st of May.
And and so, yeah, we're in differenttimes.
We're in charge, We're in.
(41:48):
It's not to me, of course, I'm only 50.
I'd love to sit down and talk to my grandgrandmother who's in heaven now.
What was the political climatelike for her?
You know,is it any different than it's ever been?
There'snothing new under the sun type of thing.
Yeah, very true.
Yeah, true.
You've seen so many of the thingsthat they said.
(42:09):
Well, this is part of why we're friends.
We think very similarly.
But I kind of had the same, same creedas I don't put political signs in my yard.
And it's not because I don't believe incertain issues
or, you know, lean one way or the other.
But it is because theas a follower of Christ,
as as a minister of the gospel, whichwe are all called, if we follow Jesus,
(42:32):
Ephesians chapter four,and I share this at the end of every
every podcast calls us
every day peopleto do the work of ministry every day,
followers of Jesus, the idea of clergyand laity is really kind
of a foreign conceptin that our pastors and teachers
equip us to do the work of ministry,and it's what Scripture say.
(42:55):
So if that's my first calling,my first job in this world,
and the purpose that God has made me for,
just like you said,if I put a political sign in my yard
and this is my conviction, I'm not again,we're not judging those that are.
Trying to feel.That God has called them to. Right.
And it's the same thing in our workplace
for me, if I put that sign in,
(43:15):
I've lost my opportunity potentially
to share the hope of the gospel,The kingdom, the number one message
that I'm called to carry,not the message of the Democrat Party
or the message of the Republican Partyor the message of the Libertarian Party.
My first message is to carry the Gospel,the hope of Jesus into people's lives.
And that's that message is going to carryinto eternity versus temporary politics
(43:40):
that are going to change with,you know, a shift of the wind.
So thank youfor sharing your heart on that.
But those of you that are listeninglisten, I were talking before the podcast
and she shared a little bitabout the political stuff.
She said, But I won't do that.
I'm like,I don't care if we talk politics.
Let's have a real conversation
and encourage each otherto look at different views.
And again, maybe you are called to workin politics and to serve in politics.
(44:04):
We have that right in this country.
We should take advantage of that.
We should exercise our civicresponsibility
to have a say in our government,
because that's a type of governmentGod has blessed us with.
So we don't want to
we don't want to put anybody downthat is involved in the political process.
Exactly.
And I think I just like you.
For me, I want I want to be challenged.
(44:25):
Like you said, you know,scripture says iron sharpens iron.
So I actually don't always want to bearound Christians that think like me.
I want to be challengedbecause how else are we to grow?
And you know what?That's how the disciples grow.
So I did a lot of study last yearabout studying under the rabbi
(44:48):
and really what discipleshipmeant in Jesus this time.
And it made me questionwhether I'm a disciple at all.
But they that's what they did.
They they sat around a tableand they grappled with the scriptures.
And that's part of the growth of it.
So like that one particular pastor
who had, you know, political signs,I do want to hear his view.
(45:11):
I want to hear his thoughtsand I want to hear mine and
and then take awayand live our conviction.
The Bible's very clearwe have to live our conscience before him.
Just like in my personal life,
I do not particularlyI do not think that drinking is wrong.
(45:31):
But I know that some Christians feelthe liberty to partake.
I do not feel that liberty.
So I don't I don't take it.
And whether I that makes me weak,you know,
that's not even an issuejust for me and the Lord.
So that's why I just want to make sureas Christians too, we're not
succumbing to any type of echo chamberwhere
we're only being validatedby the same people.
(45:54):
Let's preach like, I mean, you and I justvalidate each other and I'm grateful.
But that's not been particularly a
a popular talk in my life.
You know, I don't always feel safeto talk about these things.
You feel safeto talk about them right now.
And, you know, all of that.
Yeah, but all that to say, we didn't meanto get off on a political tangent,
(46:17):
but all of that to sayis that in the marketplace
we're going to rub shouldersand rub elbows with people
that believe in and live their livesdifferently than we do.
And what a great opportunityto carry the message of hope,
the Gospel, the fact that God loved usso much that He leaders life down for us
to live that out in practical ways tothose that we're working with every day.
(46:38):
You know, we're working 40plus hours a week.
If you ask me. You have a full time job.
And a lot of timeswe're living more of our life
with our coworkers than we areeven with our own families.
And so me and what an opportunitywe have to love with the agape,
the unconditional love of Godto those that
maybe have never experienced thator had a bad experience with the church.
(46:59):
So, you know, those of you listening,you have a divine calling.
And that's part of what Melissais investing in you
right now is the recognition of that
and understandingthat that serving in the name of Jesus
is just going to have a powerful impacton people's lives.
Yeah. Melissa, thank you.
(47:20):
Thank you for sharing you. It's honor.
It's a joy. It's great to see.
Craig and I are old enough.
We were talking before the podcastthat we're all not the same.
Maybe we've been friends for decades.
I mean, know.
We have they are two, two decadesYou see this great on in my
go to you Mercer Yeah, it'shard to believe it's been that long.
(47:40):
Hard to believe, but yeah.
So towards the end of every podcast,I always like to ask our guests
if you could talk to somebody else in yourin your industry right now
in the parks career field
that is a follower of Jesus.
What would you say to them to to encouragethem in their role as a minister
(48:01):
in in Metro Parks career. Yes.
So I guess whatI would say to you to encour.
Well, as believers, it's
it's such aI feel like it's such a high calling
that we are charged and trustedwith protecting God's creation.
And like, ultimately, that's what we'reI feel like we're going back to Genesis.
(48:21):
Okay?
Like we're we're like the storyin the fun, in the flora, and
and eventhat is such a privilege to be in that.
And then just in very practical ways,celebrate
with those that when something goodhappens, mourn with them when they're sad.
I mean, just just be presentand listening.
(48:44):
And I'm telling you, I truly believe God.
God has opened up the conversationsfor me.
I have not had to push them.
And so I believe that for you as well,those who are working in the parks,
it's a it's a privilegefor us to be able to work.
I mean, we don't talk about it a lot.We kind of joke.
It's like, oh, I'm going to work.
(49:06):
It's a privilege and God always meant forthere to be the tension of work and rest
and sort of work in the parks, inmy opinion, is such a high calling
and andGod's entrusted us not only with his
with nature,but with the the people and the community.
And we're just a tiny, tiny, tiny
(49:27):
pinprick, you know, and maybe
in the big scheme of things, but
very important nonetheless.
I'm going to ask you a question.
If somebody wanted to,
to pick your brain or talk with youa little bit more about living faith
out in the workplace, in the parks,maybe there's somebody working the parks
right now
that is trying to figure out, Jesus,how do I follow you in this in this role?
(49:51):
Do you mind if they reach out to you?
And if so, how can they get a hold of you.
So they can reach me at mranaeprice,
And I'm going to spell thatbecause it's a little weird spelling.
So M for Melissa, R - A, N as is in
Nancy A - E Price.
The price is right.
That's how I say it so gmail.com,and I would love to hear anybody
(50:17):
who even if you're just encouraged at allor something touched your heart
that wouldjust be an encouragement to me and Craig.
So thank you.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
And we've got it on the screen as well
so that you canyou can write that down as well.
Melissa, thank you so much againfor taking time to to join me here
and just encouragethose that are listening and watching in
(50:41):
living as a minister of the gospel,in their job, in their career,
I was excited when we when we touch baseand talked about you coming on.
So appreciate you coming on.
Thank you so much.
So thank you for joining us this week.
If you have a question for the podcast,you can email theworkweekwalk@gmail.com.
(51:02):
We'd love to hear from you.
Maybe you've got an idea for a careerfield.
It might be you I interview. Who knows?
But dropping an email,we'd love to hear from you.
If you're watching YouTube,you can leave a comment
in the comment sectionand let's get a conversation going.
We would love that.
Also, don't forget again,to subscribe like share.
If you've found this beneficialand encouraging, we'd just love to be able
(51:25):
to equip more working on an everydayworkplace just with these conversations.
So every podcast I
and I talked about thisa little bit earlier,
we end with a particular passagethat I think really encapsulates
the whole reason for for the workweekwalk.
And it's it's Ephesianschapter four verses 11 through 13.
I'm going to read this from the New Livingtranslation.
(51:47):
We'll put it up on the screen as well.
It says this now, these are the gifts
Christ gave to the church,the apostles the prophets,
the evangelists and the pastorsand the teachers.
Their responsibility is to equipGod's people
to do his work and build up the church,the body of Christ.
This will continueuntil we all come to such unity
(52:10):
in our faith and knowledge of God's Son
that will we will be mature in the Lord,
measuring up to the full and completestandard of Christ.
Man, what a beautiful, awesome passage.
So understand that pastors and teachers,they have an awesome role
that God has called them to, but they arenot alone in the work of ministry.
(52:30):
Their job isn't isn't to buildthe church by themselves.
Their job is to equip usto do the work of ministry in our jobs,
in our families, in our everyday lives.
And we'rethe ones called to build up the church.
So if you're not a part of helping,you invite others to to your community
of believers or or sharing the gospeland you're putting it all on Pastor.
(52:52):
Scripturally, that's incorrect.
We're the ones called to helpbuild that church.
So I just want you to understandthat you have been called
you have a purposethat God has made you for in his kingdom.
He's given you gifts and talents,and he's filled you with a spirit
to do all of this.So don't think of yourself.
If you're not serving in full timevocational ministry, we might call it.
(53:16):
You can't think of yourself as a secondrate Christian or a second rate believer.
We are all ministers, so understand that.
Hear the passion of God's voicein this passage and effusions.
For that you have purpose in His kingdomand the work of the Kingdom to do so.
Remember, we've all been called to dothe work of ministry everyday
(53:37):
in our everyday workplaces.
You have an opportunity every day,every day of the week to really make
an eternal impact in somebody's life,a co-worker's life, a colleague's life,
a customer's life, a parkgoers life.
So just rest in that.
Take some joy in thatthat you have purpose and until next week,
(53:58):
just have a blessed weekdive into his word.
Get to know the heart of the fatherand just have an amazing week.
Be blessed.
Thank you
for joining us for the Work WeekWalk podcast:
living out your faithauthentically in the everyday workplace.
We're praying you have a great weekat work, living out your faith in Jesus,
(54:21):
in an authentic waythat transforms the atmosphere around you.
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